Conventional information technology (IT) has primarily been localized and in large part central to corporate intranets. These intranets can provide a myriad of functions related to data storage and communication of information amongst organizational members. Corporate entities traditionally own various hardware and software licenses for supporting the intranet and use thereof. For example, one or more servers can be dedicated to particular tasks such as data storage/retrieval, data warehousing/analysis, electronic mail and backup. The intranet can also be composed of several client devices such as personal computers. Such devices include their own software applications for performing particular functionality such as network browsing, word processing and electronic mail management, among other things. The client devices can be connected via a wired and/or wireless network to local organization servers. These servers can also provide a gateway to wide area networks (WANs) such as the Internet.
Initial establishment of an organizational intranet can be an expensive and arduous process. A computer architecture is first defined based on organizational objectives and desired applications. Thereafter, appropriate equipment, namely hardware and software, is purchased and provided on premise. Hardware can include servers, routers, personal computers and the like. Software applications can be acquired for one or both of servers and client computers to provide functionality that facilitates one or more of database management, electronic mail, authoring/publishing, search, browsing, security and Internet access, among other things.
The hardware and software can be setup up by one or more consultants, designers and/or technicians. For example, organizational servers can be configured, computers connected thereto and software installed and configured on both the server and client computers to facilitate communication. Additionally, individual client computers can have additional software installed to support viewing, creating and/or interaction with disparate files and/or programs. Finally, security applications can also be installed on one or both of servers and clients to protect resources from malicious software as well as prevent unauthorized access to the system or particular data therein.
After an intranet is setup, continuous maintenance must be performed to keep the network operating properly. Larger organizations have on-site IT staff while smaller entities hire local IT specialists both of whom are charged with maintaining the intranet. Maintenance tasks can include diagnosing and correcting problems with the network and members of the network namely clients, servers and the like. Additionally, hardware and/or software upgrades or updates can be performed as a part of routine maintenance. Further yet, network computing devices may be added, removed or reconfigured for members as an organization changes. For example, if a company hires a new employee a computer needs to be acquired, loaded with appropriate software and configured for use by the employee on the network.
It should be noted and appreciated that internets or local IT networks are affected by various constraints not the least being a monetary budget. Accordingly, similar architectures are likely to vary noticeably in performance and capability. In fact, small and medium size enterprises often do not have the resources to establish and maintain networks of the caliber of large corporations. Moreover, some large enterprise resources are not available in scaled down versions. As a result, small and medium sized businesses are forced to operate with a competitive disadvantage in the modern computing era.